<p>My (HS junior) daughter is interested in applying to these as reach schools.</p>
<p>My guess is that she stands a chance of being accepted (as I have check out our school's Naviance data) but that she will not be a shoo in.</p>
<p>My question - in your experience, is it rather random, given similar stats, which applicants are accepted and which are not?</p>
<p>Or does it seem to be the case that if a student is accepted to one, s/he is likely to have been accepted to most or all?</p>
<p>I would not say it is random but I do think different things will appeal to different admissions committees even at schools with generally similar admissions statistics and of similar sizes. So it makes sense to apply to several LACs of this caliber because if your D is qualified but not outstandingly so there is a chance that her application will display some quality that one or more of the schools notices and wants. It might be the school-specific essay, or any other essay, or it might be something in a teacher’s rec that someone at the other end picks up on–hard to say, but no harm in trying as long as she makes sure her dreams include other schools as well. In my own family one chid had acceptances at Wesleyan, Williams, and Bowdoin, with Haverford waitlisting, for example.</p>
<p>It’s harder to predict acceptances for small school than large ones. They look more closely at essays, recommendations and EC’s. It’s also more important to demonstrate interest in the school. I recommend visiting the schools, and then applying to all the ones she likes. As Mattmom said, just make sure she also applies to some less selective schools that she really likes. As one admissions person pointed out when we visited, if you don’t apply, you definitely won’t get in.</p>
<p>My experience is that it is kind of random, at least from the point of view of the applicant. The same application will get different results from similar schools. All I can offer is that the school specific essays are often different and sometimes a kid will help him or herself quite a bit by writing an excellent essay that only one school sees.</p>
<p>We added Bard to the mix which gave an EA acceptance that was much appreciated. There was a lot to like about the Bard program so it was the perfect safety, in many ways prettier than her more desirable sisters.</p>
<p>Has the posse you mentioned been a pile of rejections, Bard was there waiting in the wings. Both kids applied and were accepted.</p>
<p>For DD she started looking at women’s colleges as matches but they ended up being her first choice schools, which was unexpected.</p>
<p>But Mt. Holyoke, Wellesley and Smith make perfect additions (New England LAC’s) to the list you gave.</p>
<p>My DD chose Barnard as her number 1 and graduated with no regrets.</p>
<p>I think you have to factor in the intangibles such geographic diversity, etc. Our daughter from MN applied to 3 of those 4, and was in at all. Probably a kid from MA or NJ would not have the same result.</p>
<p>S1 applied to two of the above and was admitted to both.</p>
<p>I would say for each one make a targeted application showing interest in the school - why does your D want to go there, why does she she would be a fit there, what unique characteristic would she bring to the student body?
Wesleyan, Middlebury, Bowdoin and even possibly Vassar are very very selective. Your D would need to research these schools and not make cookie-cutter applications at each one of them. Visiting them if she can would help a lot. </p>
<p>The reason I know this is, my son applied to Swarthmore in 2004 rather late (late December, if I remember correctly) and he wasn’t a shoo-in either. He was in the top 7-10% of his class but not top 1-2%. Grades and test scores were fine but then so are everyone else’s. It was the strength of his application and his ‘Why Swarthmore’ essay that possibly got him in.</p>
<p>Unfortunately we are in Massachusetts, so the competition is especially stiff.</p>
<p>Bard would be perfect except for the fact that they do not have my daughter’s sport (rowing).</p>
<p>Mythmom, fortunately she is willing to look at women’s colleges.</p>
<p>We are finding it difficult to locate schools which have her combination of interests - filmmaking (production, not film studies), varsity crew and academics (Russian, French, Philosophy).</p>
<p>Also she does not want to be in the middle of a city (so for example, Barnard is out), she would not like a school with a big Greek scene, and she does not want a big school.</p>
<p>So far she has Ithaca College and American University as possible safeties.</p>
<p>And yes achat, Vassar is very, very selective for applicants from my daughter’s high school.</p>
<p>Fendrock, my son minored in Film Studies at Swarthmore and is now pursuing an MS/PhD in Media Studies (not Film). According to him the Swarthmore Media and Film Studies department was growing (until the current recession) and facilities for learning Film production are quite good. He has taken a couple Film Production classes. Philosophy is strong as well and Swarthmore is in a suburban area as you might already know…the other departments you mentioned are also strong. My son is also interested in Russian literature and taken quite a few courses.</p>
<p>There are enough differences in appeal among those colleges and their competitors that their admissions pools, while overlapping, probably look meaningfully different. For example, while I certainly know kids who applied to both Wesleyan and Middlebury, I know many more kids who only applied to one of the two.</p>
<p>And, yes, some kids get accepted to all of them, some have random-seeming results, and some have results that are consistent based on admissions percentages (e.g., turned down at all colleges with <20% acceptance rates, and accepted at all colleges with >20% acceptance rates).</p>
<p>In addition to Bard and women’s colleges, popular somewhat-safer choices for students with a list like that include Bates and Colby, Connecticut College, Bucknell, Oberlin, Bennington, Kenyon.</p>
<p>achat, of course Swarthmore is another school to which it is extremely difficult to gain acceptance!</p>
<p>My daughter visited Vassar and liked it, and is very excited about taking a look at Wesleyan (we drove by but have not yet visited).</p>
<p>I’m just wondering if there is a point to considering other reach schools, such as Middlebury, which actually aren’t quite as appealing to her, but which have more of what she wants than her safety schools - but where she is unlikely to be accepted.</p>
<p>Bates and Colby are unlikely to make her list. (I included another Maine college, Bowdoin, in my OP because its acceptance rate is similar to her schools of interest). Bucknell is too Greek, and Oberlin and Kenyon are (gasp!) in the midwest and thus will not be taken into consideration.</p>
<p>Connecticut College is not a significantly easier admit for students from her high school.</p>
<p>Vassar and Wesleyan are appealing because they are near urban areas even though they are not in them. This is preferable to being in villages in Ohio, Maine or Vermont.</p>
<p>Fendrock - Sadly, Vassar has just recently decided to abandon it’s varsity crew program, due to budget concerns. The rowers are working desperately to raise funds in the hope that the school will reconsider. For more info, check the Vassar athletics site, or the online edition of The Miscellany News (the school paper).</p>
<p>For all these LACs, acceptance depends on which niche in the acceptance pile each school is trying to fill. That’s why it appears random, because applicants may present with similar academic stats, but it’s the other factors that determine the final outcome, eg., gender, EC, geography, etc.</p>
<p>orangeone, yes we visited in the week after this was announced - she did have a chance to talk to the coach anyway. The crew team was doing some fundraising and she spoke to a few members.</p>
<p>We also drove out to the Vassar boathouse and found the Hudson to look quite intimidating! (she rows on the Charles)</p>
<p>fenrock: I think there is a point. My kids experiences were so unpredictable that I saw cast the net widely and see what happens.</p>
<p>DS: Accepted: Williams, Wesleyan, Vassar, Bowdoin. Waitlist: Amherst. Rejected: Bates. Should have applied: Middlebury.</p>
<p>Rejected at Bates? Huh? Head scratcher.</p>
<p>DD: Accepted: Barnard, Vassar, Mt. Holyoke, Bard, Oberlin. Waitlist: Skidmore, Smith, Sarah Lawrence.</p>
<p>These results are unpredictable and all over the place. We needed financial aid, so some have to do with money (dare I say Skidmore and Sarah Lawrence?) but not all. I think she didn’t get along with her Smith interviewer for whatever reason. Smith and DD took dislike to each other; she didn’t try to get off wait list.</p>
<p>DS had great results, but Bates rejection? Couldn’t have predicted it.</p>
<p>Best advice – apply to as many as you can. And make a film. If she is into film production I know submitting work would be a real boon at Vassar.</p>
<p>I think DS had such good results because he submitted scores of music he wrote as well as the music being professionally performed.</p>
<p>Sadly, Vassar is probably the hardest get for a local girl. DD just lucked out because she had a literary mag she edited that won a prize for editing. </p>
<p>Concentrate on the supplements with Vassar.</p>
<p>And apply to all the women’s colleges except Barnard. I should not have forgotten Bryn Mawr. I was staying with the New England theme.</p>
<p>JHS has good suggestions.</p>
<p>From your description, Wes would be ideal. Her gender doesn’t work against her as much as at Vassar, but there again, I think submitting a piece of work would help.</p>
<p>And Middlebury may not receive as many budding film production folks and Wes and Vassar and may just really like what she has to offer.</p>
<p>I totally agree with Mythmom. It does not hurt to cast your net wide as long as it isn’t 15 applications! Don’t rule anything out at this point. No reason one can’t dream…</p>
<p>Yes, I agree with you that the Hudson looks intimidating. I think that my DD prefers her somewhat gentler “home” river, but she’s really loved rowing on the VC varsity for the past four years. I hope they manage to save the program.</p>
<p>mythmom: Thanks for the detailed response!</p>
<p>I personally really like the looks of Bryn Mawr, but it has very little film, and the closest Tri-Co college (Haverford) also doesn’t appear to offer much in the way of film courses.</p>
<p>I guess I fear that too much attention paid on reaches detracts from the reality that one could well end up elsewhere.</p>
<p>Maybe she should take a look at Franklin & Marshall, too. Definitely a full tier less selective, has varsity women’s crew and at least a stab at a film major. Hamilton may also be an option, although it’s only a tick less selective.</p>